Hello, friends! You might have thought that it would take an overwhelming, outstanding event to break me of my blog-posting silence. Well, you'd be right! Today, I'm sharing the cover of FAKING NORMAL, the amazing YA book by Courtney C. Stevens that will debut Spring of 2014. Courtney is in my critique group, so I had the honor of reading this book in its earlier stages. It's a beautiful, powerful story, guys. One you will read again and again, and absorb into your heart. So...here's more from Courtney!
Hello
awesome people! Before we get into the cover stuff, I want to thank all the
bloggers and authors who are helping today with this reveal. This is such a
fantastic and talented community, and I'm fortunate to be a part of it.
And now on
to the main event, the cover of Faking Normal:
Designed by Laura Lyn
DiSiena
Reasons I
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cover:
1. It’s
beautiful.
2. It tells
a story without words.
3. Have you
seen the awesome paper cut trees???
Here's
what the publisher (HarperTeen) has to say about Faking
Normal:
Alexi
Littrell hasn’t told anyone what happened to her over the summer. Ashamed and
embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively scratches the back of her
neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does.
At school,
nobody sees the scratches or her pain. The only person she connects with is the
mysterious Captain Lyric, who writes song lyrics on her fourth-period desk for
her to complete. With pencil marks and music, Alexi carves out a comfortable
space for herself as she and the Captain finish each other’s songs – words on a
desk feel safer than words spoken aloud.
But when
Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward boy next door, comes to live with the
Littrells, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend who understands her better than
anyone. He has secrets of his own and knows all about suffering in silence. As
they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with
his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally speak up.
With her
powerful, moving debut novel, author Courtney C. Stevens emerges as an
extraordinary new talent to watch.
Faking
Normal will be released from HarperTeen on February 25, 2014. Yes, this is
earlier than the date listed on Amazon.
Courtney C. Stevens grew up in
Kentucky and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is an adjunct professor and a
former youth minister. Her other skills include playing hide-and-seek, climbing
trees, and being an Olympic torch bearer. Faking Normal is
her first novel.
The
goods on the Cover Reveal Contest:
You don’t
know me. Twitter doesn’t know me. Facebook doesn’t know me. Goodreads doesn’t
know me. Amazon pre-sales doesn’t know me. (This is one of the great challenges
of being a debut author.)
Please help
change my anonymity by placing Faking Normal on the radar
of readers, bloggers, reviewers, and you know … people who like to win stuff.
A few deets
on the prize package-
The winner
receives:
-
A signed ARC of Faking Normal
-
A hand-painted cover rock by Court
-
Signed postcard
-
Silicone “Channel Your Brave” bracelet
Since
hand-painted cover rock isn’t usual book swag, I thought you might want a
little background. In my little family, we paint rocks for significant events.
I currently have three different book rocks that someone in my family made. One
for when I got an agent, another for when I went out on submission, and finally
one for when we sold Faking Normal.
I thought it
would be cool if I shared the tradition with one lucky winner by making a
cover-inspired rock.
(You might
also be interested to know the bottom of the rock contains a spoiler: some of
the first lyric quotes written by the main character and her Captain Lyric.)
Enter
by filling out the Rafflecopter below.
(U.S. only.
Giveaway ends July 8, 2013.)
You
can find Courtney here:
